Coming Monday: Interfaith Thanksgiving Service

Photo above: 2013 Interfaith Thanksgiving Service

The East Lansing Area Clergy Association invites all to attend the annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service at 7 pm on Monday, November 24. The host of this year’s service is Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, located at 1701 East Saginaw Street in Lansing.

This will be a holy evening to join our neighbors from many faith traditions in giving thanks to God. The service will include music, readings, and prayers from leaders in the Bahai, Buddhist, Christian Science, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Orthodox Christian, Protestant Christian, and Roman Catholic traditions. This year the preacher will be Reverend Jennifer Browne from University United Methodist Church. Following the service, Father Mark Sietsema and the congregation of Holy Trinity will host a fellowship time so that people can meet and visit with one another.

Each year at the Thanksgiving service we also have a collection for a different local charity. This year's offering will go towards "Winter Care Kits" for new arrivals through STVCC Refugee Services. The kits will include necessary health and safety essentials such as: blankets, flashlights, battery-operated radios, first aid kits, hand warmers, water proof gloves, hand sanitizer, and moist towelettes, along with an Emergency Guide with important phone numbers and safety tips. All donations will go towards the completion of these kits, which will help ensure new arrivals in our community weather the winter safely. Checks may be made out to “STVCC Refugee Services.”

The members of the East Lansing Area Clergy Association believe that interfaith opportunities are important for clergy and for the community. It is important that we learn from each other and work together for the common good wherever and whenever possible. Since Thanksgiving is not a religious holiday, but rather a secular American holiday, we have decided to use it to come together as people of different faiths and different theologies to celebrate the holiday and the American ideal of freedom of religion.

The Interfaith Thanksgiving service has been taking place for many years and has been warmly received by the community each year. About 200 people typically attend. This service has been an annual highlight for many laity and clergy because we come together across many barriers in a spirit of peace and gratitude.

Note: This article originally appeared in our "Random Acts of Kindness" feature on Sunday, November 2, 2014.

Photo below: Rev. Alice Fleming Townley, Rev. Jennifer Browne, and Rabbi Amy Bigman at last year’s Interfaith Thanksgiving service.

Rabbi Amy B. Bigman of Congregation Shaarey Zedek in East Lansing is a member of the East Lansing Clergy Association and former coordinator of the Thanksgiving service.

Rev. Alice Fleming Townley, Parish Associate of the Presbyterian Church of Okemos, chairs the East Lansing Clergy Association and coordinates the Thanksgiving service.